Vancouver Art Gallery could sell naming rights to meet project costs

Vancouver Art Gallery could consider selling naming rights as it attempts to meet spiralling costs for its high-profile new building.

The Canadian city’s major art centre, which attracts more than one million visitors per year, announced plans for a C$400m project more than a decade ago. However, new figures show costs have risen by 50% to C$600m.

While the gallery and its supporters have raised C$350m towards the project, director Anthony Kiendl said the museum is thinking of creative ways to raise funds and reduce costs, such as selling naming rights.

According to plans published in 2023, construction work was due to begin before the end of this year. Kiendl said there is no firm timeline for the renovation of the building, a neoclassical courthouse dating from 1906, which was due to open in 2028. The CEO said there will not be much progress until the beginning of next year.

In a statement, the gallery said: “The gallery will be taking necessary steps for the next phase of the project that are pragmatic, creative and will ensure prudent financial management. This will include a revised capital project timeline in order to address rising costs through changes to the building design, while simultaneously looking for opportunities to create a multi-faceted cultural hub for the Province of British Columbia and Canada.”

The new gallery by Herzog & de Meuron is to be built in Vancouver’s Larwill Park after consultation with artists from Indigenous groups. The building itself will be created with wood and copper to the fore, materials that “hold cultural value in the material history of British Columbia”.